Too surreal - on the all to familiar couch watching the footy and in 7 hours I will be on my way for a 6 week adventure/ torture test cycling in Africa. Never been to the Dark Continent - never cycled that far - never been away from fam for that long.

Made it to Vic Falls -Pilot did laps of the falls - no helicopter flight necessary!

Was able to have a cold beer in hand as the riders began to trickle in. A common theme as I met them was relief that they didn’t have to look after Kit anymore.

Awake very early due to time difference. Breakfast wa entertaining as a monkey troop literally stole food from people’s hands and would not back down when threatened. Water bottles were a favourite- maybe for the traces of sweet sports and other drinks.

Awoke early due to the sound of the Zambezi river crying out - everybody stop! Falls ahead!!!

Well Victoria falls is pretty amazing. We rode the 10k or so to the falls - crossed the amazing old bridge which is the border into Zimbabwe (Kit’s Canada passport attracted a $60 charge, my Aussie one only $30! Kit thinks maybe Trudeau has pissed off Mugabe.) and visited several lookouts.

Awoke early to the sound of my own brain ticking over trying to prepare for the days ahead.

Very quiet day. Preparing for day zero of the ride. Must have zipped and unzipped bags a hundred times looking for stuff only to find it exactly where it should be. (NOT!)

Anyway - saw a small croc next to some flash hotel rooms - apparently in the same spot where a larger croc swam in and ate a smaller croc just like it a couple of years ago.

Awoke early due to nervous energy and not wanting to be that guy who is late on his first day.

My first day’s cycling- finally on the bike. Getting used to all the feeding and camping routines is a challenge - I may have rinsed once in the washing bucket buit I think I got away with it.

Relatively short ride - about 80k parallel with the Zambezi River - lovely countryside- friendly people.

Crossed a brand new bridge metes from where four countries come together, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Breeze through border only to spend an hour for everyone to get SIM cards - poor girl trying to register me on the phone had no chance of understanding my Aussie accent - a kind local was helping everyone

Set up camp on Chobe river then off for a river cruise - photo’s below. As I am writing this a huge thunderstorm is approaching - comfort level about to drop.

Woke up early to the sound of Hyena’s (I shit you not - we never saw them though).

Shoved all my wet gear in the bag which is officially well overweight now and we headed off down the elephant highway.

Warthogs and a baboon troop on the road early then long periods of African bush and nothing else. Then someone spots an elephant through the bush - I arrive just in time to see it’s retreating butt. (I mean it was retreating not just it’s butt - I gave it it’s privacy. I actually got no elephant photos today because they were all too far away)

Awoke early to the sound of the party which had been going all night in a camp close by finally breaking up.

Got 5k down the road (Kit says it was 4.79k) and Kit remembers I have left a power cell plugged in back at camp - quick double back and looks like it will be 160k today.

Dead straight flat road with a helping wind (thankfully). Karen from Denmark joined us on the ride - she educated us on good governance (we asked) I educated her on why a cricketer raises his bat after a hundred runs (or in our case 100k).

Passed about 200 young army cadets running in formation and singing.

Elephants everywhere!!

Was a bit slow seeing one early which meant we got too close and I think I spotted one warning sign. I blame kits wheel hub clicker - apparently it pisses off elephants as well as fellow peloton riders.

We saw lot’s more later - amazing creatures- we stop more than we should only to find the campsite we finish at has a whole herd performing in front of the bar. Apparently the owner trucks the water in to attract them. People have been known to have a trunk reach behind them to get water from the cistern as they were on the toilet. They keep them from the bar and pool with sharp spikes on the ground (they have very sensitive feet) but the campground is fair game!

Awoke early due to….. Lions’s roaring!!!!

Then went back to sleep - it was 1:30 and I didn’t really know it was a lion but sort of suspected and it was confirmed by our local driver and animal expert Tino later.

Gorgeous morning - waved goodbye to the elephants (or Elly bellys as our tour boss calls them) and headed down the same dead straight flat road for another 150k day.

Awoke early due to the sound of a a dung beetle (or it could have been a Volkswagen Beetle given the noise) trying to break down the door from the bathroom where I had locked him in last night after a traumatic experience I don’t want to talk about. I managed to give him his freedom by throwing him out the front door but judging by the shell cracking sound the extra weight means they break a little more than other insects when you throw them onto concrete. I didn’t get a good photo - I am waiting to see one with a ball of dung (otherwise it’s just a big beetle right?) and will post that instead.

Today was a rest day - lot’s of chores - hanging around etc A whole dampener was put on the day by the fact that a really nice guy got sent off the tour - admittedly for pushing a lady off a white water raft, but there was a lot of back story - she was no innocent victim.

We had a pub quiz organised selflessly by two dutchies - was fun - our team came second so can ask the team that came last to clean our bikes.

Only other entertainment was watching the campground staff trying to cope with us all in their own sweet/ relaxed way. Hard to get cranky at incompetence when they smile at you like that.

Onwards to a bush camp tomorrow - no showers, mosquito net covered beds or afternoon snoozes (it will be too hot in the tents) tomorrow!

Ohh - and we saw a Bush Baby up close in the rafters at dinner. Was way too quick for a photo but got a look at that very cute face.

Awoke early to the sound of Bush Baby’s - they kind of chatter like parrots.

Off down the dead flat road on a very cool morning with light rain and a tail wind - the 120k was looking like a walk in the park and it actually was but I did manage to snap a gear cable at about 30k which added stress - if not difficulty to the ride.

The stress was eased a little by Dennis - the amateur bike mechanic and really nice guy who used the “Jam stick in” technique to give me a couple a easier gears - wasn’t really necessary but he was pretty proud of himself, it worked well amd now I knew something I didn’t before.

Awoke early to the glare of a billion stars in the African sky. Was a crystal clear night and the sky was amazing. My impression is that the northern hemisphere has a more crowded sky - particularly of bright stars when you can actually get away from the light and other pollution but maybe that is subjective. (Editors note - no-one seems to have noticed the deliberate mistake so I will point it out - we are in the southern hemisphere and I am an idiot)

Another big serve of porridge and we are one our way for a relatively short day of about 100k on the flat. Gears are fixed - all going very cruisy. A few more people /cattle / donkeys about otherwise very uneventful

One thing I will mention is the thorns - there are those from the Acacia bushes in the photo below which line the road and will make a mess of your sidewall but the more dangerous one are the 3 sided ones that are everywhere in the campsites and have defeated many tires, tent bases and air mattresses.

Awoke early to the sound of silence - I was quiet as a mouse in order to not wake lit as I snuck out of the room.

I had a date with a helicopter scenic flight over the Okavengo delta which was very exciting as I had never been in a helicopter before. The chopper was cool - open doors and the pimples on the pilot’s face a little disconcerting, then he got us a beauty when he started flicking switches muttering “How hard can it be - right?”.

Awoke early to the sound of the staff sweeping the pool area. (Was a nice room we had - AC - \240great pool - nice bar - don’t tell any of the other cyclists on our tour who who were camping out the back with the floodlights and noisy birds)

Beautiful morning in Maun but still plenty of traffic at 6am when we set off - kids start school really early - probably 6:30 (take note Tom and Rubes) - plenty of them all excited to see some old men and women on flash bicycles- a few high fives handed out and no-one came off their bikes.

Made plenty of time in the beautiful cool morning on this long day but nothing really of note occurred to report on then all hell broke loose. At a service station coke stop at about 100k a dodgy minivan loaded to the max with people drove over one of the bikes - damaging a wheel pretty badly. Not much could be done about it - the wheel was probably the driver’s annual salary but to his credit he gave 400 pula - about $40. Mechanics working hard to salvage the situation until we at least reach Windhoek and can (maybe) purchase a new wheel.

Mainly cattle country so relatively open bush where the cattle have grazed everything else. Everything quite green though and the towns (maybe 2 in 150k) seem well kept.

Awoke early to the sound of campers with shovels queuing up for the pit toilet.

Another beautifully cool and clear morning. A couple of hills are a surprise but good to stretch out the legs then cycling into an area where there is network coverage just adds to everyone’s good mood. Pretty uneventful day - saw a chameleon - funny seeing him try to cross the road n that slow, stop start motion they use - especially when I could see a big truck coming. Somehow he avoids the wheels but gets blown up In the air lands on his back and somehow rights himself before continuing on his very slow journey.

Awoke to fear and trepidation.

Writing this having completed 208 k of 217k day - about to cross into Namibia so will likely lose network for a couple of days.

Very tough day but it looks we did it - see you on the other side.

Awoke to the creaking of my bones and aching in my muscles.

Another day another long, frankly pretty boring ride. A slight sandhill climb with a bit of an outlook early in the morning than flat flat flat through cattle bush and getting hotter with a bit of a headwind most of the way. My hands are now really quite sore but not sure there is much I can do about it - hopefully two days off will help.

Get into quite a big Namibian town called Gobabis just before we finish. Was pretty cool to see the locals going about there business - Herero ladies who are Lutheran based (but the Germans ended up persecuting) \240have some amazing traditional dress l will try and get a picture.

Awoke early due to excitement that I didn’t have to get on a bike today.

At about 8 am ( the buses being an African half hour late to arrive) we departed for Windhoek. With some hills finally appearing in the landscape and the bus windows being above the surrounding vegetation the view was quite interesting. It reminded me of the dry hills around Townsville or Geraldton WA actually. Speaking of WA - Namibia has a Wild West feel about it, with lot’s of utes driving extremely fast (they drive long distances here too) and given there is no shoulder at all on the road in it was deemed too dangerous for us to ride it - hence the buses.

There were some pretty flash houses on the outskirts of Windhoek up in the hills - spotted a giraffe in the bush near one of them.

Being a rest day Kit has booked us in to a bed and breakfast just next to the camp where everyone else is staying. Quite a striking place - once you get inside the perimeter walls and electrified fence and can see it. Paulo the owner has brought some of his native Italy to the decor, though there are also touches of Africa in the high roofs.

Awoke to the sound of suburban silence - or maybe the slight hum of the electric fence surrounding our B and B.

Fantastic breakfast put on by our wonderful host Paulo, then off down the hill to check on bike tyres. They have survived the night well - I adjust the height of my handlebars to take pressure off my hands (hopefully) and am about to brag that I am all set when camp clown Patrick points out that one of the tires are on backwards - a specialty of mine actually. No matter - I will adjust my riding style so that the front wheel is spinning in one direction and the rear in the other 🤪

Kit is faffing around but we eventually get out for lunch- back to Jo’s beerhouse as I have some unfinished business with some game meats. I order the collection to share - as we are sitting there wondering which meat is which on the kebab, the barman turns out with the helpful diagram in the picture below. They were all good, crocodile very different (fatty and more like chicken) - while the others were only subtly different. My favourite was actually the Zebra - maybe it’s the Leo in me.

Awoke early to the sound of Kit swearing at the coffee machine.

Once that was sorted we were off at dawn through the busy morning traffic of Windhoek. Passed a big stadium at one stage - I guess they had World Cup games here. After 20km we hit the dirt and a massive climb. The views were just spectacular - it topped out at 2050 m asl - about Kosciosco height but there were many much larger mountains around us that have never seen snow.

While the view was awesome - the road was terrible and what with the climbing and a head wind we only averaged 13 kmh- just a hard slog -luckily it was not too hot.

Camp nothing to write home about (though I guess that’s what I’m doing now) - it’s 7:15 now and I will be disappointed if I’m not asleep in half an hour - ciao.

Awoke early \240(again) to the sound of that bloody camp dog barking - probably trying to save us from lions or some such then was shamed into getting up at 0430 hours by Steve - the American Air Force pilot who rumour has it puts rocks under his back when he sleeps just to toughen himself up.

Backtrack along the D road which is indistinguishable from the C road we turn onto - ie shit for bikes. Gorgeous morning - lot’s of rocky outcops on this high plateau and large mountains all round in the distance. I’m afraid my photo’s will not do it justice.

Awoke early to the sound of cars trying to make it the 80k down the road to the gate which opens at 6 am to get people to the dunes for sunrise photo’s. When I say “cars” don’t picture some traffic jam - even though it is Easter there is a good 20 min between each car - while the Dunes are world renowned- Namibia is one of the least densely populated countries in world.

Back out on the road and after a good start with lovely morning light we are soon doing it tough on those horrible dirt roads again.

Awoke early to the sound of Kit getting ready to go on the sunrise dunes experience. I had decided the day before that I didn’t really want to get up so early on my rest day and my time would be better spent preparing for the hard day’s riding ahead. Apparently I missed a good experience and they weren’t trapped in the heat at the dunes all day as I had feared but I think I made the right call for me.

So I slept in until 7:30 - did a lot of organising- cleaned the drive train on both bikes and now feel ready for the test’s ahead.

Might be a good time to mention weaver birds - we have seen their nests since Botswana. Early on their were individual nests but they were unfinished or messy looking at the bottom (I don’t have a picture) - these are the tent builders of the weaver world.

In Namibia the nests are finished circles- the house and garden types of the weaver world.

Awoke very early to the sound of Joseph knocking n the door to tell us he was ready to take our bags over to the trucks - exactly as we had pre- arranged. Unfortunately we forgot to tell him we had later arranged for the truck to come to us. Kit gave him a tip anyway.

Preparation was a little different as we were given dispensation to miss breakfast and the rider meeting so had time to enjoy the buffet breakfast at the hotel. We did NOT have porridge for once.

Another gorgeous morning - red dunes to our right - mountains and hummocks of rocks rising out of the desert all round. Some hot air balloons further on - the view would be stunning.

Another terrible road - despite being a relatively short day at 115k everyone has said it will be one of the toughest of the tour and it was. Kit and I actually thought we were going OK only to find we were dead last at the last coke stop (put on by our magnificent hosts that night - the farmers of the farm stay at Tolou). Arriving just before dark - we find many others had retired because it was too tough.

A talk about the region from our host (they are 150 k from nearest very small town) a gorgeous sunset then we hit the sack in preparation for an even bigger day on these horrible roads tomorrow.

Awoke early to glare of the moon and the louder than usual sounds of the camp coming alive. It was such a beautiful night (and I was so tired) that I left the fly off and the moon and stars were beautiful through the mesh.

I had a good sleep so decided to ride the whole 135k despite the warnings that it was harder than the day before. Kit had decided to get a lift to lunch and ride from there for the same reason.

The early part was just as hard as predicted - terrible road and into a headwind but eventually the road improved and I even got long stretches of fast descents which really made the k’s fly by.

Scenery was beautiful as always - we had to get through a stretch of mountains so that highlighted the scenery though I didn’t take many photo’s because you (and I) have seen it all by now and frankly my photography just does not do it justice.

By the way Emma says there a some proper photo’s on the TDA instagram page (I don’t do insta) that a give a much better impression of this magnificent country if you are interested.

I thought I saw a meerkat but it was probably a slender mongoose I am told - otherwise it was a pretty quiet day on the wildlife front.

Got to camp in plenty of time in this little (One shop, one hotel, one house) town of German origin called Helferinghausen. We are staying in the hotel (it has camping out the back) - it has very nice desert appropriate gardens. (No Em I am not stealing you any succulents).

Awoke early to the blessed silence. The mosquitoes in the our room were horrible and kept me awake most of the night but Kit had plugged in one of those zappers and it seemed to have worked - either that or they had all had their fill of my blood and had slinked off too have a post meal snooze.

Quite a cold morning (though nothing by Canberra standards).

More beautiful scenery - helped by our mood as we were flying along on a smooth dirt road - downhill and downwind all the way. Lunch was just short of Bethanie- a small town where we stopped for coffee and ice cream. Also ran into a bus load of Australians from Victoria - kind of surreal in this landscape where we might see three cars an hour. They were enjoying it - coming up from Cape Town to Vic falls so pretty much our ride in reverse.

We made the camp in record time (My garmin said so).

Interesting place - on a railway - was an old limestone kiln operation in it’s day and much of the left over machinery was included in the decor.. Rocks everywhere which Kit got very excited about. They had set up a waterhole for wildlife viewing from the veranda- Sprinbok and Babboons just far enough away to make for poor photos- if you come to Africa - bring a telephoto lens!!!

Awoke early to the sound of the train rumbling through - he really didn’t have to blow that whistle.

Some good climbs on quite a major road - I had to stop a couple of times to help Toni-Anne with her tyre but Doug the mechanic took over that task and I was free to go catch up with Kit.

Rode into sort of gorge country - just beautiful- passed the fish river - no fish and actually no river. Then onto a largeinclined plain (something you never see in Aus - all the plains are flat I believe - without regular water to shape the landscape the topography is very different) which we follow down.

Awoke early to the sound of a howling wind and crackling fire. It is cold and exposed out here in the desert and a southerly change has come through quite strongly in the night - without rain of course. The staff have lit a fire for us god bless’em.

Today is only a short day (49k so we have time to do a Fish River Canyon tour tonight) so we depart a little later than usual. Jovial mood amongst the group - the usual hares have calmed down and are riding with the rest of the group to some extent. The view is brilliant again - we enter the Gondwana Reserve where they have teams located animals and pretty soon see some Giraffe.

Awoke early to the sound of an owl in the bush next to my tent. Couldn’t see him but was very distinctive - and certainly an improvement on the nuclear klaxon a certain pommy git rider has for his alarm.

Long day (170k) on dirt today - we are up before sun rise - picking our way along the dirt road in the dark before the dawn light opens up to the most amazing vistas. Without a breath of breeze to stir up the dust and views for miles back towards the canyon and surrounding mountains this is the most picturesque ride so far.

Awoke early to Kit throwing open the blinds to show Jill the sunrise on facetime! Rude!

Not really - was a gorgeous view of the river and we had to be up early for breakfast anyway.

Did washing - cleaned the bike - ate ice creams - top day!

Awoke early due to the alarm and nothing else! Was a top sleep.

Bikes, bags, breakfast etc and we are off. Following the river as the morning sun hit’s the cliff’s on the other side is very speccy.

Awoke early to the sound of guys in the caravan park starting up their trucks - I think work - like school- starts early around here (this was 4:30 am!).

Off we go down the road. I managed to pack my cap in my daily bag so was looking a treat with a bike maintenance rag on my head all day to keep the sun off - lucky we were on backroads and not say a major highway like the N7 - hang on…..

Was very undulating all day with long descents and climbs - I usually quite like this terrain but was a little tired. There was more granite and less mudstone / sandstone in the geology of the rocky hills than in Namibia. It reminded me a little of Frecinet in Tasmania (I wonder why I was thinking of that?)

Awoke early to the sound of the power coming back on at 10pm - got up and turned off the lights and the kettle and then slept VERY soundly in my private room with a double bed. (There were no suitable campgrounds so TDA paid for all of us to have a room in various places spread around Garries)

On the road again, more rolling hills - countryside looking a little greener - one rugby field even had a sparse covering of grass. Then we saw a river (that was not a major river like the Orange) that actually had some water in it - OK it wasn’t flowing but this is the first non-dry riverbed we had seen since Botswana.

Very long afternoon due to 28k of terrible dirt roads and a howling cross wind that came seriously close to blowing me off my bike a couple of times. Got a bit of a peloton going into the wind with three others near the end which helped a little bit but just a struggle all day.

While we would be very excited normally to see the ocean - and the van park is right on it - arriving in said howling gale that went right through you and chilled your sweaty body to the bone took the edge off somewhat. Arriving then having to immediately sit through a rider meeting in said sweaty clothing before wolfing down some dinner also was not ideal. Fortunately we could join some riders who had secured an apartment for the night and were happy for us to join so at least we didn’t have to deal with tents and the predicted bad weather.

Anyway - better hit the sack - 149k -17 deg, windy and rain tomorrow. Shouldn’t complain - first rain and cold we have had in 6 weeks.

Awoke early to the sound of 5 grown men sharing a warm comfortable night under the one roof and feeling guilty knowing that their fellow riders had endured some horrible rains and wind last night.

The rain was still hanging around as we left for breakfast in the dark and the wind was pretty fierce but it all looked doable.

We headed off firstly down the coast through one quaint village in particular then on to 50 km of dirt. The road was certainly mud in places but this was pretty rare - in fact the rain aided traction and reduced the sand in many areas but it was still very slow going under grey skies and scudding showers.

Awoke early to the sound of my ear follicles freezing (and the ocean - at least the camper with the idea to play movies at top volume had finally gone to bed)

For the first time I not only used the sleeping bag - I got right in it up to my eye balls - it was seriously cold (about 8 degrees apparently). Luckily there was no wind but it was still pretty miserable out on the road. I accelerated to try and warm up thinking I would leave Kit behind but he stayed right with me - I think he has been doing it easy all this time the old fox.

Scenery had definitely changed to seaside villages - the glimpses of the ocean looked wonderful with very clean water and very white clean sand. (The long 2 days previous meant I hadn’t even had time to go to the beach despite camping right on it.)

Awoke early to the pouring rain - of course!

88k left in the tour. 60k down the busy highway before a photo opp and last lunch stop on the bay with Table Mountain in the background.

Riding was very cold and wet but mercifully short. The stop was cold and wet and painfully long. Getting pictures taken and waiting for everyone to come in was more painful for me than the Namibian dirt roads, especially as I didn’t think the job was done yet - we still had 28k to go!

Eventually we left in three groups with “guides” to ensure we didn’t get lost or have any encounters with the locals in the more unsavoury parts of town. Of course the groups dissolved in no time at all and Denis got a flat tyre in THE most unsavoury part of town but we changed it and all was fine of course.

Our last challenge was getting 40 riders through downtown Cape Town. It would have been tough enough with an experienced local group of riders but with most of our bunch never having done group riding before we were a serious danger to each other.

Arrival was cool - quite emotional for some. We took over the hotel, one glass of champagne then it was straight to packing bikes in boxes and waiting for our rooms to be allocated (it took until 4pm which was pretty bad considering we were standing around in our wet cycling gear for 4 hours. Also, they gave us a room that had someone else in it who had chained it from the inside. We yelled through the crack but he didn’t answer for over 30 minutes which was frustrating.

Anyway - Em and the kids arrived, cool slideshow presentation then a nice farewell dinner and we were done!

We will have a nice couple of weeks touring SA then it’s home to a new life in Tasmania.

I might summarise the whole experience in one more post when it’s all over - otherwise Sayonara!

Spent 3 nights in Cape Town after arrival. Weather was pretty grey and cold for the first few days - couldn’t even see Table Mountain. Hung around the city - mainly the docks area which was pretty cool - they have done it well with lots of eateries, markets and art. The large old dry dock was empty one day and full the next - would have liked to see that process but didn’t.

Went to Robben Island one day - in pretty thick fog and heavy seas (many people were sea sick). Tour was a little lame, tired signs and not a lot of information and they have to keep it all moving because they \240have to get so many people through but the highlight was the guides. The first guy on the bus was very funny. He was a Xan descendant and could speak Xhoisan (with the clicks and everything). He tried to teach the language to the bus - was very funny seeing people from all over the world trying to get their tongues around it.

The second guide had been an actual political prisoner on the island - he was one of 11 such guides - who had come back to tell people their stories. He had gone in in 1984 - released around 1993. Spent all his time with 40 others \240in one large room with concrete floor - no glass in windows - strip of hessian to sleep on. Many got degrees and other education while in there which was good. Also saw Mandela’s cell. I think it was interesting that they chose to put all these political prisoners together- the whole gaol became such a symbol for revolution that the movement was stronger than if they hadn’t been jailed. Anyway - the guy spoke eloquently - was very moving.

When it was time to go it turned out that our boat had broken down and there were people who should have left 3 hours ago still sitting on the dock. Another boat arrived and it was chaos for a while but we got back around an hour late.

On our last day in Cape Town the weather cleared and we took the cable car up to Table Mountain- along with every other tourist in Cape Town it seemed. The wait in the que would have been over an hour but we paid the extra money and got fast tracked - felt pretty bad for everyone else but was glad we did.

The Cable car was very large and had a rotating floor so everyone could see everything. It was a pretty short ride, you actually drive most of the way up before you get to the station. The operator was hilarious - in deep slow voice, things like “WOW! If you lose your ticket you are walking back down WOW!”, “WOW! There is no smoking permitted on Table Mountain “WOW!”, “WOW! If you lose your ticket it is a long walk to freedom!, “WOW”

Very pretty alpine/Finbos vegetation at the top with incredible views of course. Was surprised to note it was actually not as high in elevation as Mt Wellington, maybe the steepness of it and the fact there are no trees makes it look higher than it actually is.

Have spent four nights in Gondwana Nature Reserve - about 5 hours west of Cape Town by car.

Really beautiful region with endangered Fynbos vegetation and heaps of animals. Was a long drive but extremely picturesque as we climbed up the escarpment. Stopped at the relatively large town of Swellendam for an excellent lunch. Driving was a bit hairy due to the SA custom of moving onto the shoulder of the road (which is usually quite generous) to let cars pass at more than 120k an hour. You are expected to do it for both cars behind you and coming at you - if one person doesn’t get the memo it has potential to go very bad in my opinion.

Anyway the reserve is huge - while the animals are not exactly in their native habitat, most having been brought in - the scale of the place does a pretty good job at hiding the fact that eventually they are all behind a fence. The up side of this is that they are all incredibly used to people sticking cameras up their noses and it doesn’t bother them at all.

Game drives morning and night and in 2 and a half days we had pretty much seen everything plus some amazing sunsets and sun rises.

After leaving Gondwana safari we made the short trip down the road to Mossell Bay. It was a Sunday of a long weekend and the point area was packed. Swell was very large breaking on to the point so only a few hardy surfers were in the water. We decided to do the zip line despite the wait and was glad we did. Was a heap of fun. Very fast and over a kilometre long from the cliffs to tourist central on the point. Em even timed her run to go through a huge wave - getting soaked and a huge cheer in the process.

Dinner was at a restored train restaurant on the harbour - funny how we do these things when we are tourists- the quality of the restaurant was exactly what you would expect from a tourist trap train place.

The next day we were up early to go on a dive with the white sharks adventure. I for one was quite nervous not due to the thought of getting in the shark cage but was not looking forward to a long boat ride and cold, rough weather. It actually all turned out fine as wheather was beautiful and boat ride was just in the bay - about 30 minutes. Once at the right spot(only 200 metres from a popular beach!) \240the crew start’s chumming and pretty soon a shark (or maybe two) appears briefly every 20 minutes or so. They were ”only” about 2 metres long but still very impressive - showing all their teeth and attacking from below as they do.

Our digs for the night was in a place below a supermarket with a great view of the bay. We took the opportunity to have a home cooked pasta meal.

Awoke early due to the fact we had to drive five hours back to Cape Town.

Another gorgeous drive on a sparkling day - this time on the northern route 60 - some say the route 66 of the Cape region. Lot’s of flat irrigated valleys with high mountains surrounding. We had lunch at a bakery that was hands down the best bakery I have ever seen. The pastry on the sausage rolls and pies was to die for.

Wineries everywhere. Then you go through a tunnel and come out in Stellenbosch proper with huge estate wineries and luxury car yards.

We had very little time so only stopped at one place - a “black winemaker only” cellar door. Wine was OK - tasting lady was very entertaining and enthusiastic and it was good giving out money to trail blazers in the industry.

On the road again and back across Cape Town to our digs in Clifton. Built back into the Table Mountain cliffs with a beautiful white sandy beach you certainly didn’t need a TV what with the ocean views and parade of bodies beautiful coming past day and night.

The next day we took a drive down to the cape - more eye dropping scenery, but very high, narrow windy roads so very glad I didn’t ride it as planned, especially with the TDA group of stray cats!

Took the furnicular up to the lighthouse - Tom lost his ticket- the walk down took him all of 10 minutes.

Had a beautiful seafood dinner at a local restaurant for our last night - chatted to an Irish couple who were just starting their holiday - seemed a nice way to end it all!